MPs may banish boredom and get some work done as BlackBerrys could enter Commons

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A new report by the Commons Modernisation Committee has recommended that MPs be permitted to bring handheld devices into the House of Commons, so that they can work and check on emails while waiting for long, boring speeches to end.

The boredom factor may be discouraging some backbench MPs from attending parliamentary debates and leading to low morale.

“Members might be more willing to spend time in the chamber listening to debates or waiting to be called if they were able to do other work at the same time, either dealing with correspondence or perhaps even using a handheld computer or laptop to deal with emails,” advised the “Revitalising the Chamber: The Role of the Back Bench Member” report.

MPs still have to vote in the change, and the Committee has stipulated that such devices must not cause a disturbance.

Presumably the use of PSPs and DS Lites would be frowned upon. Think of the networking potential, though.